Life of a Hunter, Death of a Hunter
by Drow Elf
Summary: Please Read and Review! First Fanfic EVER! Dedicated to penname Lola Witherbottoms for her invaluable help. Thank you! R&R!


Disclaimer: I do not own Drizzt Do'Urden, Artemis Entreri, Icewind Dale, Calimport, Guenhwyvar, Charon's Claw, Icingdeath, Twinkle, or anything else in this fanfic.

**This is my first ever fanfic, and I tried to be both general and unoriginal. Please, Please, Please review, even to tell me how bad I am! - - -Drow Elf**

Life of a Hunter, Death of a Hunter

It was a typical sunrise in Icewind Dale. The sun rose in a glorious burst of pink and orange, half obscured by purple clouds. The light reflected and rebounded off the millions of tiny mirrors known as snow, causing the ground to glitter as if it were made of diamonds.

Drizzt Do'Urden of the long dead Ninth House of Menzoberranzan squinted against the light. His eyes, though strengthened by decades of walking the sunlit lands, were still captive to his dark heritage. Nevertheless, the sunrise was beautiful, and Drizzt wanted nothing more than to sit down and enjoy it.

It was too bad he had a dagger pressed to his back.

"Thought you were real clever, didn't you?" snarled Artemis Entreri, resisting the urge to press his magical dagger into his most hated enemy. "Coming back to Icewind Dale when I thought you were dead. No one escapes me so easily!" He slashed Charon's Claw toward the cave entrance, blocking off the light and unwittingly giving the drow ranger the advantage in the darkness.

"I thought you had grown above this, Entreri," murmured Drizzt.

"Shut up, elf!" screamed the assassin, his voice high with the touch of insanity. "Just shut up! All your talk of honor, of nobility, of responsibility. They mean nothing to me! Do you hear me? Nothing!"

"I hear you," said Drizzt calmly, "but I don't believe you, and I don't think you believe it either."

"Enough talk!" bellowed Entreri. "I came here to kill you, not to listen to you blather on for hours. Gods, you've been doing that for years, and what good has it been to anybody?"

"Come, Guenhwyvar," whispered Drizzt, gripping his magical figurine. The six hundred pound black panther exploded out of nowhere, pouncing upon Entreri and raking his face with her claws. The panther shrieked with pain and outrage as the assassin ran her through with Charon's Claw. The cat whimpered and disappeared, her spirit returning to the Astral Plane.

"Oh, look, I've killed your kitty, what a shame," growled Entreri menacingly.

Drizzt wasn't even aware of the change. The Hunter gripped his mind and took control before Drizzt could stop it.

Howling with rage the Hunter whipped Icingdeath and Twinkle, the twin scimitars, out of their sheaths and leapt at Artemis Entreri.

The following sword fight was the most intense in centuries, but the only witnesses to it were the two combatants and a sleepy snow owl that didn't care one way or the other.

Artemis Entreri was the best assassin to ever walk the streets of Calimport. Few paladins could match him in battle, and none could challenge him in a contest of wits.

Artemis Entreri was excellent; Drizzt Do'Urden was excellent. The Hunter, however, was perfect.

Minutes passed. The swordplay was so furious one could not see anything of the swords except grayish blurs and sparks flying as they struck each other. Finally, the Hunter swept Twinkle around, pinning Entreri's sword and dagger against the cave wall. Icingdeath rammed through Entreri's chest.

Artemis gasped and dropped his weapons, and he slumped down to the floor. As quickly as the Hunter had come, it was gone, leaving Drizzt feeling weak and horrified. Numbly, he tried stem the flow of blood from Entreri's mouth with his cloak.

"This is not what I wanted," Drizzt tried to explain.

Artemis gave a weak grin. "No, it's what _I_ wanted." All traces of madness had left his features.

"What do you mean?" Drizzt asked sharply, tearing his green cloak into strips for a makeshift bandage.

"All that stuff about honor and such, and what you said about my life being worth nothing; you were right." Artemis coughed, fresh blood spilling from his lips. "Deep in my heart, I wanted to change; I really did. But I couldn't, you know. I've done too much; I've killed too many. Also, in my stubbornness, I had to believe you were wrong. I had to kill you because you represented everything I could have been. You were my hero, I think, and I hated you for it. Does that make sense?"

Drizzt nodded. In an odd sort of way, it did make sense. "I understand," he said. "Because you represented everything _I_ could have been if I had stayed in Menzoberranzan. I had to kill you, too because I could not look at you without seeing myself."

Artemis chuckled; "We lived the life the other should have, brother. I wish I had followed in your footsteps instead of destroying them."

A lump formed in Drizzt's throat. "What would you have me do, Artemis?" he asked.

A single tear rolled down Artemis Entreri's cheek. "Live the life I did not, brother. Wherever you find evil, destroy it with my name in your heart. Whatever afterlife awaits me now, the knowledge that you live will comfort me."

"I will," Drizzt croaked, fighting back tears.

Artemis smiled; the assassin had finally found peace. Then his eyes slid out of focus, and he was gone. The single tear he had shed was frozen at the corner of his mouth.

Drizzt wept.

**Author's Note: I know... I should have had more action in the middle and less mushy stuff at the end, but give me a break; I'm a newbie!**


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